|
Hetzer Likes Different Beat
by Frank Burlison, Long Beach Press-Telegram
November 9, 2006
LONG BEACH - Can you imagine the expression on the faces of sushi chefs
in and around Long Beach when 6-foot-1 - and blonde - Heather Hetzer sits
down at their counters and rattles off her order in something approaching
fluent Japanese?
Those must approach the looks she got from her fellow freshmen in the
fall of 2003 when she organized an "80s" dance party in her
Long Beach State dormitory.
Wait a second. Don't most members of the 21-year-old Hetzer's generation
see the '80s as a decade that produced a lot of music they mock if they
happen to come across a VH-1 "where are they now?" special while
channel surfing?
Did they sense that she might be a, uh, little different?
"That," said Hetzer, an outside hitter - laughing after a 49ers
volleyball practice earlier this week - "is an understatement."
Coach Brian Gimmillaro, whose team (18-5 overall and 8-2 in conference)
plays its final two home conference games tonight and Saturday against
UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton, respectively, has a program noted
for players who are exceptional students with eclectic interests and effervescent
personalities.
And Hetzer is 3-for-3 in those categories:
She came to Long Beach (by way of Mukilteo, Wash., located about 25 miles
north of Seattle) with a 3.9 grade point average.
She's leaving LBSU in the spring, less than four years later, with a degree
in Communications and plans to enroll in law school next fall.
Hetzer and her older sister (Nicole, now attending UCLA's medical school),
lived with their parents for the better part of three years (until she
was about 7) in Japan when her father, Mark Hetzer, was stationed there
as a Navy captain.
She didn't pick up much of the language then (at least, consciously) but
took classes in conversational Japanese at both Kamiak High and Long Beach
State.
Among Hetzer's multitude of passions are aerobics (if "Perfect"
were remade today, she'd be the `perfect' choice to play Jamie Lee Curtis'
aerobics instructor role) and, of course, '80s music.
"That's what I've got on my iPod," she said.
"My favorites? Classic Madonna - she's the best. And Rock Lobster
(by the B-52s; it's darn near an anthem for the era, although it was released
in July of 1979) is my theme song."
Personality?
Bingo.
"She really is totally her `own' person," former Long Beach
State standout, now-Lakewood High assistant and still-devoted Hetzer pal
Erika Chidester explained.
"She has so many good qualities that make her unique. She is so much
fun to hang out with."
And, even better "she cares so much about everything she does,"
Chidester added.
"She always makes that extra effort to make you feel welcome. If
you're not feeling well, you know she is going to visit you and bring
you something to try to make you feel better or cheer you up. She is someone
I know I will be close friends with for the rest of my life."
And, of late, she's also demonstrating that she's a pretty good volleyball
player, too.
Hetzer, who plans to balance a legal career while opening (naturally),
an "'80s-flavored aerobics club" some day, redshirted as
a freshman, got into 66 games two years ago but only 10 last season.
But the departure of last year's Big West Freshman of the Year - when
Ali Daley transferred to UCLA - and injuries to Naomi Washington and Quincy
Verdin has left Gimmillaro scrambling for production and blocking from
the outside (left) position.
Dyanne Lawlor (10 kills) and Hetzer (seven kills and a season-high three
solo blocks) provided it last Saturday night when the 49ers collected
a three-game sweep on the road against a UC Irvine team that had won three
matches in a row.
"She is a very capable player and I think she is starting to believe
that over the past few weeks," Gimmillaro said.
If she were a stock, Gimmillaro would apparently buy a lot of shares of
Hetzer.
"She is incredibly bright, funny and personable," he said. "I
might have her represent me some day (as an attorney). She is very self-assured
and has no ego problems."
That's apparent in that, even as she rarely removed her warmup jacket
in matches a year ago, she never gave serious thought to searching out
other volleyball pastures.
"There have been some rough roads but, because of the people who
surround me, I've never wanted to give up," she said.
"Most of the people I've met in this program are going to be my friends
for life. Sure, it's been a little frustrating at times. But I'm the type
of person who always works hard at getting myself ready (for a match),
no matter what."
Hetzer will spend as much time possible in the spring prepping for the
LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) and will likely end up attending law
school somewhere in Southern California.
She didn't need the rains that are pelting the state of Washington to
remind her why she has adopted Southern California as her home - despite
being in the Southland just once before enrolling at Long Beach.
"I don't think I can ever leave sunny weather again," she said.
"My family always bugs me, `When are you going to come home to visit?'
But they do come out here (to see her and her sister) as much as they
can."
She plans to return to Japan "some day and visit the places I stayed
when I was a kid," she said.
Hetzer will make sure communication isn't a problem.
"Sometimes I'll go a whole night and answer everything in Japanese,"
she said. "Everyone looks at me like I'm a little crazy."
And when she orders her sushi in Japanese?
"They (the chefs) look a little dumbfounded," she added. "But
I like doing what isn't expected of me."
Which, it seems, is rapidly becoming something close to impossible.
|
